So, apparently Coach Jamie Dixon spoke to the Pitt players to help with the motivation.

It is the Panthers’ first win against a Big Ten opponent since a 12-0 win against Penn State in 2000, and, as defensive tackle Mick Williams explained, the kind of victory the Panthers needed to prove to themselves — and to others — that they are capable of doing big things this year.

“Coach Dixon came in Thursday and talked to us about this being a big program-building kind of game,” Williams said. “And we all got together and said let’s go and do something to build our program. He talked about when Brandin Knight played, it was a win over Ohio State for them and he told us, this is Iowa for us. That was a big thing for us, that he came in and talked to us, and I’d like to thank him for that.

“[In the fourth quarter, when it got tight] that is all we were talking about there today, we knew we had to dig deep because this game is our program-builder right here.”

The Ohio State game Dixon referred to was in 2001 when Knight was a junior and the Panthers, coached at the time by Ben Howland (Dixon was an assistant), went to Columbus and upset the Buckeyes, 62-55.

However you want to give credit, it’s a significant event for Pitt under Wannstedt.

This was the kind of game Pitt has become accustomed to losing. It was playing a BCS opponent, getting outgained and trailing in the fourth quarter.

Most of all, the Panthers were coming off a bye week.

Instead of adding Iowa to its list of devastating out-of-conference defeats, Pitt came through in every phase for a 21-20 victory over Iowa before a crowd of 50,321 on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field.

…

“There is no substitute for going through it yourself and having success,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who improved to 1-5 after a bye and earned his first victory over a Big Ten opponent after losing to Michigan State the past two seasons.

“We’re down in the fourth quarter. We find a way to score, the defense finds a way to stop them, and special teams comes up with the play. That will stick in their minds.”

While the win was encouraging for Pitt (2-1), it wasn’t in impressive fashion. Iowa (3-1) outgained Pitt, 361-259, and held the Panthers to six consecutive possessions without a first down.

On the plus side, the defense made plays when it had to. Oh, geez that sounds very familiar. Didn’t Pitt have a DC that used to throw that out there a lot of times? Bend, but don’t break. It’ll come to me.

“The most encouraging part was the end where we had to make some plays,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. ‘Two series right before the half, our defense stepped up and got two three-and-outs. Then, at the end of the game, the defense stepped up.”

The big question leading up to the game was whether Pitt’s undersized defensive front could compete in the trenches with a big, physical Iowa offensive line.

There were no doubts after an impressive fourth quarter.

Of course the defense had to do the work. Iowa held a 34:48 to 25:12 advantage in time of possession.

Greg Cross finally making an appearance was noted in a couple places.

“It was a nice play that Matt Cavanaugh and our coaches put together,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “… They both had options depending on the defense. On one, Greg was going to motion out and Billy would be the quarterback. On another look, Greg was going to be the quarterback and Billy was going to be the wide receiver. That’s the look they gave us.”

At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, coaches have been creating ways to get Cross onto the field. That never happened against Bowling Green and Buffalo.

“We have about a half dozen plays for Greg,” Wannstedt said, “but have never found the opportunity to get him in there.”

The other time Cross was out there, it didn’t work so well, but that may have had as much to do with the timing.

There is a time and a place for Greg Cross and second and ten from your own side of the field isn’t it.  Cross should be put in on a perceived running down and lined up in the WIldcat formation.  From this, they can go ahead and pass- that would actually take someone by surprise.  But to put him in on second and ten and try to drop him back shows that Wannstedt doesn’t understand that it isn’t about putting talent on the field but about putting talent in a position to be successful.

In Florida, that was the difference between Ron Zook and Urban Meyer. Arguably you could also make the same point at Ohio State with John Cooper and Jim Tressel. Zook and Cooper recruited plenty of talent, but it took a different coach to succeed with them.

Ron Cook has a man-crush on LeSean McCoy.

The kid really does get it.

It’s not as if McCoy didn’t make a sizable contribution to what has to be the second-biggest win of the Dave Wannstedt era, a win trumped only by the magic in Morgantown Dec. 1. Just when it seemed as if the Pitt offense had called it a day late in the third quarter with its five consecutive three-and-out series and an interception on the sixth, he took control of the game. He had six touches and accounted for 69 of the 80 yards that Pitt cranked out to get the winning touchdown against a stout defense that hadn’t allowed one in Iowa’s first three games. His 27-yard touchdown run — he started right and cut back — brought back wonderful memories of last season when he was the best freshman running back in America.

McCoy had the easy part, he said. He credited offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh with “a great call.” He said guard C.J. Davis “blew it up” inside and that wide receiver T.J. Porter had “a great block outside.”

Nothing wrong with a little humility, is there?

Joe Starkey wants to see more McCoy, but wasn’t impressed by the performance of Pitt.

This was billed as a statement game at Pitt, but the only statement one could decipher afterward was this:

We’re not as bad as Iowa.

You never know, though, maybe this will prove to be a momentum-turning victory, just like Jamie Dixon said it would. Dixon, Pitt’s basketball coach, gave the football players a pep talk two nights before the game. He told them that a 2001 win at Ohio State proved to be a program-changer in basketball, and that a win over Iowa could be the same in football.

Perhaps, but it’s worth noting that the Ohio State basketball team was coming off its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001, while the Iowa football team is coming off a bowl-less, six-win season that ended with a nine-point loss to Western Michigan.

Not to be a party pooper.

Momentum? I’ll believe it when I see it. After a bye week – sorry, a game against Syracuse – Pitt goes into South Florida. If it does something special there, count me among the converted.

Coming this week, Dave Wannstedt will talk about how the Syracuse game is a potential trap game.